A highlight of a visit to Bangkok is undoubtedly the wide variety of food on offer from street cart vendors.
From the quintessential Pad Thai Noodles, to banana pancakes, to barbecued chicken, to dishes you’ll not know what you’re eating unless you speak fluent Thai – you can get it all from the street carts. And you should. Put any food hygiene concerns behind you and spend a day wandering from street cart to street cart sampling their specialties.
The best part? You’ll be hard pressed to spend over $2 on a dish.
Yesterday evening, Adventurous Kate (@AdventurousKate) and Pamela (@Spunkygirllogue) hit the streets of Bangkok looking for another Bangkok specialty – bugs.
It took a bit of exploring, but near the Bangkok street famous the world over – Khao San Road – we found them. A cart full of bugs; ants, worms, crickets – you name it.
20 Baht ($0.67) got Kate and myself an assorted bag full of bugs. Some were salty, some slightly sour, some were gooey, while others (namely, the crickets) were crispy – surprisingly, they weren’t that bad.
Stay tuned to AdventurousKate.com and SpunkyGirlMonologues.com for more photos and a Bangkok travel video.
Do you have a picture you’d like to share here? Email me at matt <at> backpackingmatt <dot> com and I’ll gladly feature it with a link back to your blog.
Backpacking Matt 
Wow, Matt!
There was an episode of MythBusters a day or two ago that featured Kari eating one cricket. I’m telling you that looked NOTHING LIKE the experience you describe 🙂
@Slava I enjoyed it far more than I would have EVER expected.
@Michael They grub like worms were pretty mushy … not nearly as tasty!
@Christy Tarantula? Wow. I don’t know; when in Rome I guess …
haha, looks delicious. crickets are high in protein so I why not but worms are just disgusting, I think I say no to worms
Yum! I mean. Eeewww! I can’t believe you guys ate that! I’m adventurous with everything except eating bugs! If you go to Cambodia, will you try the tarantula? I’ve seen pics and it looks creepy!
I actually can’t wait to try things like that when I finally get to Bangkok next year.
@Mike I found them on Ramburtri (near Khao San) on the top side of the street – away from the river.
@William Cocktails and insects. Killer combination!
@Pamela There is still time ……
@Cam Well the bag wasn’t exactly full!
@Amanda I reckon if you were here you’d give it a go!
@Laura We’ll have some when you arrive. It’s been too long!
I ate some insects at a cocktail event I was invited to last week in London and they were rather tasty. I would never knock anything until I have tried it for myself because sometimes things taste better than you think they will…
I’m still really impressed with your determination. I seriously wanted to gag watching you guys eat those crickets! I’m hoping to edit and post a Bangkok video later in the week -with cricket eating included.
I’m hungry. I think I need Shwarma before I meet up with you and Kate for the market.
We ate crickets in Cambodia. Not as bad as I thought, but can’t imagine eating a bag!
Eating a bag full of bugs… not sure whether to be impressed or disgusted! Haha. Kudos on being adventurous! I don’t know if I could down bugs…
I was so gung ho to try bugs when I got to Asia. And then I saw them. I haven’t braved them yet. I guess I have 4 days in Bangkok next week to make it happen!
It was quite an experience! Tasty goodness!
If you’d like to see the video, you can click the “eating insects in Bangkok” link below this post or watch on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILVMh5pv2Gw
@Kate The best part was picking the cricket shell out of my teeth a half an hour later!
I think its common in Southeast Asia to eat exotic food. When I was young, about 8 years old as what I remembered, our maid cooked us some bugs and it doesn’t taste bad at all. It was my first time to eat bugs. Same also with my grandmother, sometimes she cooked us frogs she bought in local market and it tasted like chicken. I think when I go to Thailand and Cambodia this coming May I will be able to try those food. 😀